The price of shrimps has gone up to KD90 per basket from KD60 at start of the shrimping season in Kuwait. One reason for this has been supply not keeping up with demand, particularly from hotels and restaurants. These bulk purchases have raised prices making it unaffordable to ordinary consumers. Presently, shrimp is selling for KD6 per kilo for jumbo size and KD3 to KD4 for medium size in both Mubarakiya and the Souq Sharq fish market.

Faisal Al-Hasawi, Deputy Director General for Fish Resources at the Public Authority for Agricultural Affairs and Fish Resources was recently quoted as saying that a proposal is under study to limit participation in the daily fish auctions to only Kuwaitis. Al-Hasawi said the proposal aimed to supply fish and shrimps to the Kuwaiti market at reasonable prices, effectively ensuring that only Kuwaitis get first access to the catch and expats would have to buy directly from vendors. There is also the proposal for allocating a weekly share for Kuwaitis.

Meanwhile, the main fish preferred by South Asian and East Asian consumers have seen no price fluctuations as there are enough supplies from neighboring countries. The fish supplies in Kuwait’s fish market are sustained from both imports and the local fishing industry; Kuwait’s fishing industry accounts for 20 percent of the daily catch while 80 percent is imported from countries such as Iran, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Thailand.